Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Death penalty can be avoided, but living punishment cannot be escaped

After lunch, Xuan Jinyu didn't want to stay behind the curtain anymore, as if she and Su Guanzhang were doing something shameful.

At noon, when the jailer came to deliver the meal, he saw the couple walking out from behind the curtain together. His honest and stern face suddenly lit up, as if saying "I have discovered something" and "You two young couple are so loving", which made her feel embarrassed.

No matter how thick-skinned she was, or how much she didn't care about other people's opinions, she would only feel embarrassed in front of her parents and Su Guanzhang at home. With her parents-in-law here, she would still feel embarrassed.

So she stayed outside the curtain all afternoon, and Su Guanzhang accompanied her silently.

In the morning, she learned how to calculate time by the number of times the torches were changed. Xuan Jinyu thought she would always pay attention to the frequency of torch changes, but in fact, she didn't pay much attention when the jailer came.

Life on death row wasn't as unacceptable as she had thought.

Throughout the afternoon, she talked with the old lady, her mother-in-law Xu Yu Niang, and her three sisters-in-law, listened to them talk about the precautions of pregnancy, and watched the house games that her nephews and nieces made up to make her laugh. The smile on her face never disappeared.

It was not until she was having dinner in the evening that she realized that her face was a little stiff - she had been smiling for too long.

-

There was warmth and affection in the death row of the Ministry of Justice, but the front court was not at peace all day today.

During the morning court session, there was a quarrel in the court about the Duke Su's Mansion collaborating with the enemy and treason, and a fight almost broke out.

Sheng Yu smashed a set of tea cups as soon as he returned to the main hall. After smashing them, he found that they were his most beloved set of sky-blue Ru porcelain with water patterns, and he became even angrier.

"How do you do your job? Huh?" He yelled at the palace maids and eunuchs kneeling on the ground, "Get out of here, everyone! Go get ten sticks on yourselves."

The palace maids and eunuchs didn't even dare to pick up the debris on the ground, and they retreated from the hall in fear. Only Eunuch Wu stayed quietly, and you could hear a pin drop in the hall.

"Look, civil officials and military officers can actually form a faction." Sheng Yu walked around the hall a few times and accidentally picked up the broken porcelain pieces on the ground. Following the direction where the porcelain pieces flew out, he saw the inconspicuous eunuch Wu.

Eunuch Wu didn't dare to speak and just silently served as the emperor's tree hole.

"I didn't know that to execute a Su family member, I had to obtain the consent of the court officials." Sheng Yu sneered, "If you didn't know, you would think that Duke Su's Mansion was not collaborating with the enemy and treason, but was trying to seize the Sheng family's territory."

Eunuch Wu fell to his knees with a plop, sweat dripping down his face.

Your Majesty must be so angry that he said such words.

He was secretly thankful that His Majesty had angrily dismissed the palace maids and eunuchs in the main hall after the Ru porcelain teacup was broken, otherwise who knows how many people would have died.

"Eunuch Wu, do you think the Su family is going to rebel?"

Civil officials and military officials had always been divided into two camps, and they had always kept to themselves. But when the Su family got into trouble, they united and put pressure on him, the emperor.

He didn't care that Eunuch Wu didn't reply, and continued coldly, "You're asking me to think twice, but that's just a threat. I don't believe it, and I can't deal with the Su family."

Sheng Yu's gaze was as cold as his voice, and he looked at Eunuch Wu as if he were looking at a dead object.

"Your Majesty, calm down." Eunuch Wu finally spoke, trying to stop the trembling in his voice. "The Su family has deep roots and is protected by the Lin and Xuan families. Your Majesty must remain calm in order to compete with the court officials."

In the court of Dasheng, the military officials are basically headed by the Su family, and the civil officials are basically headed by the Lin family. Now that the Su and Lin families have joined forces because of Xuan Jinyu, it is indeed difficult to deal with them.

Eunuch Wu felt the gaze that was staring at him, as if it wanted to peel off his bones and skin him, disappear, and his body slowly collapsed.

He has been with His Majesty for nearly twenty years. It's hard to say how deep the friendship between master and servant is, but at least he is different from the other palace servants and can rest assured about his life.

But just now he almost thought that he would end up like the broken porcelain pieces on the ground, with his body torn apart, worse than an ordinary palace maid.

fortunately!

"You're right." Sheng Yu took a deep breath, letting the cool incense burning in the hall's incense burner enter his lungs. "I need to stay calm. I've already waited three years, so I'm not afraid of waiting even longer."

Towards evening, Taifu Lin entered the palace.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to exchange this golden belt for a way out for the Su family." Lin Ren knelt on the ground, his hands facing upwards, and respectfully presented a bright golden imperial belt embroidered with auspicious dragons and phoenixes.

The jade ring in Sheng Yu's hand tapped lightly on the table, making a crisp "click" sound.

There was silence in the hall for a moment.

"Master, have you thought it through? The golden belt was a gift from the late emperor to keep the family safe. Are you sure you want to use it on the Su family?"

The "da da da" sound rang out again, and the jade ring tapped the table rhythmically, making Eunuch Wu's heart go up and down.

Lin Ren's expression did not change at all. Even though the emperor was so rude and disrespectful in front of his teacher, he did not frown.

"Your Majesty, I have given this careful consideration."

The jade ring stopped knocking.

"Okay, I promise you." Sheng Yu finally gave Lin Ren a satisfactory reply.

"The death penalty can be avoided, but the punishment of life cannot be escaped." He gestured to Eunuch Wu to take the golden belt and looked down at Lin Ren. "Teacher, how about sentencing the Su family to exile in Mobei?"

Lin Ren disagreed, "Your Majesty, no, Mobei is where the Su family army is."

He met Sheng Yu's playful gaze, "The Su family army recognizes people and is afraid of letting the tiger return to the mountain."

Sheng Yu suspected that the old man was plotting against him, but he couldn't see any clues from his calm eyes.

"Then according to the Grand Master's opinion, what should we do?"

"To be fair and give the world an explanation," Lin Ren leaned forward, "this matter can be discussed at court tomorrow morning."

The reputation is deserved.

Before Taifu Lin said goodbye and left, he suddenly asked, "In order to protect the Su family, Taifu of the Golden Belt was willing to hand it over, why didn't you continue to help?"

Lin Ren didn't turn around, but simply said, "Your Majesty, I am protecting the Su family only for the sake of my poor granddaughter. The future of the Su family has nothing to do with me. I am not helping them because, as a court official, I am thinking about the interests of Dasheng."

Sheng Yu didn't say anything else, and Eunuch Wu respectfully escorted Lin Ren out of the main hall.

"Old fox."

After a long time, in the empty and silent hall, an almost inaudible voice was heard.

-

The visitors to the death row arrived after everyone had finished dinner.

Xuan Jinyu's father, Xuan Zhao came in person.

"Daddy."

"father in law."

Xuan Jinyu and Su Guanzhang stood up.

Xuan Zhao nodded to his daughter and son-in-law, but unlike his wife Lin Qingwan and father-in-law Lin Ren, he skipped the outer cells and went straight to the innermost cell as soon as he arrived at the death row.

He stopped at the outermost cell where Duke Su and four boys were imprisoned.

"Father-in-law." Xuan Zhao greeted Su Sheng gently.

Su Sheng also stood up and nodded at him, "Why did you come here in person today? The old master was injured yesterday. Is that a problem?"

Although Xuan Zhao is a gentle person, he is very principled and has always been at odds with the smooth-talking Minister of Justice Liang Fangfang. Yesterday, the Su and Lin families broke with Liang Fangfang, but today he is still in the death row of the Ministry of Justice.

It has to be said that he overestimated Liang Fangfang by two points.

Xuan Zhaochong looked at his daughter worriedly and waved his hand before answering Su Sheng, "It's nothing. It's just that the old man is old and just came out of the palace. He doesn't have much energy, so he sent me on this trip."

"It just so happens that I'm also worried about Jinyu's situation here, so I came here."

Xuan Jinyu felt relieved after hearing this, but she began to blame herself again.

It’s all because of her that my grandfather has to work so hard for her even at his old age.

If it weren't for her, my grandfather would still be the teacher respected by the emperor...

"Don't think too much, okay?" Su Guanzhang leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Grandfather wouldn't want to see you blaming yourself."

To be honest, the source of Lin Ren's hustle and bustle was still their Su family.

Su Guanzhang lowered his eyes, hiding the slight uneasiness that was rising in his heart.

Xuan Jinyu looked up at him and reluctantly responded with a "hmm", then she found that her father had finished talking to her father-in-law and was walking towards them.

"Daddy."

"father in law."

The two called out again.

Xuan Zhao agreed, looking at his daughter's little face which had not changed much from the past, and said in a very gentle tone, "Daddy came to see you."

"Daddy, won't you come in and sit for a while?"

When my mother and grandfather came, they asked someone to open the prison door and let them in, but my father didn't show any intention of coming in.

Xuan Jinyu couldn't help but grab Su Guanzhang's sleeve, and he quickly grabbed her little finger with his backhand, and held her hand tighter little by little until their fingers were intertwined.

He really liked this kind of intimacy, and so did Xuan Jinyu, letting his warm body temperature soak into her bit by bit.

The slight movement hidden under the sleeves could not be hidden from Xuan Zhao in front of him, but he just lowered his eyes and watched the small movements of the young couple, with no change in his expression.

"There was a big quarrel in the court today." Xuan Zhao said, meeting Su Guanzhang's indifferent eyes and blinking. He knew that his son-in-law could understand his eyes.

Xuan Jinyu stretched out her right hand, which was not shaking hands with Su Guanzhang, and grabbed the iron railing.

Xuan Zhao patted the hand she stretched out, just like he used to pat her back gently to coax her to sleep when she was a child.

"Uncle Su's whereabouts are still missing."

When Xuan Zhao turned around, he met Second Aunt Su's gaze and sounded apologetic.

Second Aunt Su bowed slightly to him, and her two daughters-in-law did the same.

Even the Su family had only received news of Second Uncle Su's disappearance yesterday. Mobei was vast, and the fighting on the front lines was stalemate and complicated. Beyond the Su family, if anyone else were to search for him, it would likely take another month, not just a day, for news to come back.

Xuan Zhao nodded slightly, ignoring their approach to the prison door. He turned back to face his daughter and son-in-law and raised his voice, "The charge of treason is still too severe. If it is not handled properly, it will damage the foundation of the country."

Considering Xuan Jinyu had never been involved in court affairs, he explained very clearly, "Those who advocate the execution of the entire family are mostly those who are at odds with the Xuan and Lin families. Minister Liang hasn't expressed his position today, but I think he's also inclined to this idea."

Minister Liang, isn’t he the Minister of Justice Liang Fangfang who broke down the talks with them yesterday?

Her provocation of the new emperor yesterday also indirectly created a grudge with Liang Fangfang.

If he also advocates the death penalty for the Su family, then those who are still in prison...will he still accept the bribes from outsiders?

Xuan Jinyu suddenly felt a surge of regret in her heart.

She nervously held Su Guanzhang's hand, and her heart slowly calmed down when he gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.